Previous Pitfalls

A new LARP in Rochester? Discuss.

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Joshua
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Previous Pitfalls

Post by Joshua »

Well, some issues came up in previous attempts to run games. Some thoughts...

Sick of Vampire: Well, that's not the end of the world. We've had an attempt to run a Werewolf game that went really well (except for the personality conflicts...) and most CoD doesn't have the same issues of the previous games. Still, I'm open to other ideas if anyone wants to get on board, or at least humor my insanity.

Bad Josh, No explaining Plot (That everyone should know by now): When I was setting up deeper mysteries for the campaign I attempted to follow a Three Clue Rule. But, I guess while I was thinking of plot and how the PCs advanced the plot and the slow learning of said plot... it hit a number of major snags.
  • PCs horde information: and share it with no-one. So, clues (or later clues) need to target people willing to share information, or there has to be enough to give every secret-horder (secret-hodor?) a clue plus one.
  • Characters Die / Retire / New Characters: This is the later clues I mentioned. Even major plot points that were publicly revealed in the middle of court need ways to come out again. The 12 people who were there might not remember, might ignore it, might retire, and then the twelve completely new characters have no way in. This is especially true of new players.
So, my thought is that five or six clues might be best. An 'early find' clue intended for an info horder to gain and hold onto. Three normal-ish clues to help find the plot for people to share when the plots about to happen, and one or two post-plot reminders for new players, people who missed things, and more. Just an idea.

Punch it in the Face!: This, is my issue, not the game. So, I need to get over it and let someone better than me handle conflict.

Stupid Staff: So, I've had more than one "total badass" NPC or group of NPCs get completely destroyed by above players. Half the time, this was due to narrators completely not reading the NPCs.
  • "I'm sorry, but the players killed Carl." / "How'd they get through his Majesty? The one that reduces your Willpower by 10(!) and forces you to make a will test to attack him?" / "Wait, what?"
  • "I'm sorry, the PCs killed the garou SWAT team." / "How? Every member of the team has the camouflage gift?" / "What's that do? Some bonus to stealth?" / "It's full Obfuscate." / "Oh..."
So, I guess a "combat summary" for NPCs would be helpful. Or just a quick "Physical/Social/Mental Conflict" summary. Also, apparently, I should run all NPCs by Aaron or something to make sure they don't suck.

Any other ideas?
AdamZ
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Re: Previous Pitfalls

Post by AdamZ »

Testing...testing...1...2...3...is this thing on?

Well, in case it is, Hi Josh! Been a while. I hope all is well. You're not the only one itching for a new LARP 'round these parts, and I hope you don't mind me adding my input here. I'll address your original concerns, and then I'll add my own. I'd be happy to work with you (and others) to see if we can put something together.

Sick of Vampire - Yeah, that's a big one. So many of us have played it for so long and in so many ways that there really isn't much to explore there. That having been said, it still has a special place in some of our hearts for the hours upon hours of entertainment and good memories derived from it (in all editions/iterations). There's also a general sense of WoD burnout that I've gotten from folks I've caught up with since moving back to town. Only one person I've spoken to has any excitement for anything set in the WoD, everyone else has been pretty much "Meh." about it. The only exception is Changeling: the Lost. That one has caught a few ears.

Bad Josh, No explaining Plot - Everyone has different ways of dropping/receiving plot hints, and there are a lot of different ways that people will use the hints that have been dropped. It's very hit and miss, so don't sweat it too much. The old Influence/rumors system was great for this, since it let the ST disperse information like a shotgun, making it easier for it to land somewhere useful.

Punch it in the Face! - Are you talking about conflict in-character, or conflict out-of-character?

Stupid Staff - It happens, even to the person that designed the character. Summaries can help, as can making sure everyone is on the same page before the event happens. Pretty easy to address.

Now for my concerns:

Logistics - We're all older and in different places in life than we were 10 years ago. That comes with perks and problems. Getting everyone together in a single spot might be a challenge, as might be securing a space sufficient to play. Hopefully the trade off for this is that it will be easier to fund a space. Some folks will also need to secure baby-sitters, transportation, shift coverage, etc., which could potentially throw a wrench in to the game plan. Having some portion of gameplay take place via the internet or otherwise outside of the regular "main" event could alleviate this.

Motivation, or Making Sure People Play - There's lots to do on a weekend night, and some folks might not have the same interest in LARPing that they used to. The game will have to be more than just a "show up and play" thing. Drinks, snacks, maybe some side/mini games (such as an IC poker game) could increase the game's drawing power. As could putting effort in to decorating the set (so to speak), and making it more fun to be at the game than elsewhere (or to at least make the game competitive with other options). This might mean that some people will have a "job" with "responsibilities" at game, but I see no reason it can't work. Hell, it worked for Rocky and they were literally watching the same movie every time.

What to Play - Preferred splats. Edition wars. Hated books. Getting everyone to agree on what to play could be a big issue. Granted, that could be solved with some creativity, but putting together a setting and rule set that people are all willing to enjoy together is critical. Otherwise they can just go home and play what they want.

History - The LARPing community in Rochester has a history. That history might be a challenge to overcome, especially where certain people and conflicts are concerned.

New Blood - Finding new players to join the game will be difficult, but is necessary to help keep the game going. Plus it will dilute the history problem a bit, but will add to it in the long run. This has been a thing since forever though. It might also be difficult to get old blood back in to circulation as well.

I think that covers it for now. Let me know what you think.
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Joshua
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Re: Previous Pitfalls

Post by Joshua »

Yeah, no idea what might happen.

Sick of Vampire - I think one thing is, if you have a good concept people will come. I mean, look at how many people showed up for the Deadlands larp. The issue is having enough new blood (and some old blood that can be reigned in) to hit that critical mass.

Bad Josh, No explaining Plot - This was a lot easier when people were willing to do between game writeups. Almost no one is willing to give the game a second thought between meetings. That's... kind of the ultimate insult in my opinion. It's not like it's a job, it's not like we're asking for paragraphs... MAybe-... Black Sands had a web page to submit writeups... Maybe something like that would work. Too bad a mobile app is a bit beyond my ability to write. Still, I've had people who were unwilling to copy and paste a writeup from a chat into an e-mail. I can't imagine that level of ... I mean... This was someone who TYPED out their writeup to another player... and just flat-out refused to send it to the ST. I can't imagine hating a game to that level that I was still attending.

Punch it in the Face! - This is a reference to the IC issue of:
"Santa Claus shows up with a sack of gifts." / "I punch him in the face!"
"Lex Luthor says that if you kill him, thousands will die when the dam explodes." / "I punch him in the face!"
"The Archon arrives and says he's investigating rumors of Masquerade breeches." / " I punch him in the face!"
"The orphan thanks you for saving her dog." / "I punch him in the face!" / "It's a 10-year old girl!" / "Okay, then I punch HER in the face!"
"What do you do?" / "We drive around town until we see something we can punch in the face!"

Seriously, we've seen a lot of this more recently. And the above isn't even an exaggeration. I've seen most of this.

Your concerns:

Logistics - It really depends on who is interested. Also, frustratingly... People lie about how interested they are in a game. I'm not sure how to deal with "This player won't show up if this other player shows up." And quite frankly, people don't advertise these conflicts. Mostly, I'm inclined to tell them to go to hell. There's exactly three players who I would have issues with if they showed up at game, and at least two of them, if someone else was willing to deal with them, I'd give them a second chance. Now, there's more who I would not let on staff, but that's a little different.

New Blood - this is the insurmountable issue. If we can get this working, the rest will work out.
AdamZ
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Re: Previous Pitfalls

Post by AdamZ »

Hey, I'm glad you replied! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Sick of Vampire - That's very true, though I don't know what happened with the Deadlands LARP (don't think I was in Rochester for that one). Part of me thinks that an anchor setting with broad but limited crossover is the way to go when trying to bring people in. Such as, a Vampire game with a limited number of slots for Werewolves, Mages, Sin-Eaters, etc., with an in-game explanation as to why everyone is mingling.

Bad Josh, No explaining Plot - Writeups are a fantastic thing for an ST to have, and they shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes to write. Some people are religious about doing them, others have never even considered it. An XP incentive helps, but you shouldn't have to go out of your way to get them from players. An e-mail is an easy thing these days, there's no need for an app. If someone chooses not to do them, then they can suffer the results.

Punch it in the Face! - Yeah, that's always annoying. It was frustrating back when I was running the Sabbat game. If it's gotten worse, that's...well, something. On the one hand, you can't exclude or punish that option without some grumbling from players, but on the other hand it's not the universal solution a lot of players want it to be. I'd say give fair warning that it will only work when appropriate, and let the players learn the hard way.

Logistics - True. I know that there's a game running out of someone's house, which is great if you know & trust the players, but once the crowd gets beyond a certain size other accommodations really need to be investigated. Plus, you're absolutely right - personal conflict between players really can put a strain on things. At this point though, we're all adults and if something can't be resolved cordially then saying "fuck 'em" is probably an appropriate answer. I can only think of one person I would absolutely ban, and one person I would have concerns with, but beyond that there's not much. Staff is definitely another matter, though.

New Blood - Always the key. Thankfully, we have numerous local colleges to tap in to (but that takes time, effort, & money that may not be forthcoming), and there is always the internet. A pretty website could be very handy here.
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Joshua
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Re: Previous Pitfalls

Post by Joshua »

Deadlands LARP: The short of it- It was hugely popular. However, all scenes had a limit on the number of characters who could participate, and this limit x the number of scenes was significantly less than the number of players. So, it was a setting people really wanted and was run terribly.

The punch it in the face crowd was... kinda bad in Between the Shadows. I actually got complaints about the number of combat plots, and yet literally EVERY plot in the game could have been resolved without combat. It's just what people chose to do.

Logistics: We might have to work up a ban list at some point. I thought of one more who would need a liaison specifically for them if they were to join. Which is a shame, because a lot of people have gotten better. I'm avoiding names on purpose at the moment.

As for a venue, that's not as insane as it sounds. It would help if we could do something though RWAG or something again, but even doign it at Aaron's mom's dance studio worked rather well. And that was basically 3 medium-sized rooms.

New Blood: Well, facebook and meetup.com seem to be popular.
AdamZ
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Re: Previous Pitfalls

Post by AdamZ »

Deadlands LARP: Yeah, you really want to make sure you can accommodate your game's size.

PIITF: Everyone wants to show off their kewl powerz and how badass they are. I don't recall being involved in combat plots in BtS, but I specifically made a mental character and I wasn't able to play more than a few times so my experience there is limited. Maybe some sort of IC restriction on violence could be implemented.

Logistics: If the ban list requires more than a note card I'll start to get uncomfortable about it, but I understand why one would be necessary. Especially after hearing about what happened in Buffalo.

Venue: I think Aaron's mom still has a dance studio, but that would require the game being able to meet her price. $5 for 4-6 hours of entertainment seems a very reasonable price for me, maybe even $10, but money brings problems all it's own. Sadly, I doubt we'll be able to go through RIT or the UofR at this point, but I could be wrong. I was at RIT for a seminar last month and the nostalgia hit me hard.

New Blood: Yeah, I looked at Meetup.com when I moved back and there were a few gaming groups that popped up. I'm sure there's also other LARPs in the region that we could talk to, like Dystopia Rising and maybe even the SCA. But I'm a little out of the loop so I'm not sure what's all out there.
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